PARCC

For several years, school districts across Illinois, including ours, worked to align the curriculum with the Common Core State Standards. Along with the new standards came new assessments. While students in grades three through eight had typically taken the ISAT, in 2015, school districts in Illinois began administering the PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) Assessment. There are several states that are members of the PARCC consortium who work together to establish assessments that measure whether students are on track to be successful in college and their careers.

Current Status

Q: Do we have to administer these assessments?A: Federal law, including the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) require that states administer an assessment to all eligible students in grades three through eight. Illinois chose to administer the PARCC Assessment since it is aligned with the Illinois Learning Standards Incorporating the Common Core.

Q: What is a good score? Should we expect to see whether our students met or exceeded the State Standard?A: Score reports show how students performed on each portion of the PARCC assessment as well as their overall score. The student test results mark a new baseline that enables all of us to know where students currently stand on their path to success in college and career.

Score of 1 Did Not Meet Expectations for College & Career Readiness

Score of 2 Partially Met Expectations for College & Career Readiness

Score of 3 Approaching Expectations for College & Career Readiness

Score of 4 Met Expectations for College & Career Readiness

Score of 5 Exceeded Expectations for College & Career Readiness

Q: What do the score reports look like?A: Samples of score reports and explanations can be found below.